


I Know You, My Friend -self study-

by love_killed_the_superstar



Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Hogwarts, Budding Love, Coming Out, Coming of Age, Eventual Relationships, F/F, Gen, Hogwarts
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-09-24
Updated: 2016-04-30
Packaged: 2018-04-23 04:49:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 12,466
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4863749
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/love_killed_the_superstar/pseuds/love_killed_the_superstar
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Anecdotes of Pearl's seven long years at Hogwarts, complete with her fumbling crush over an extremely attractive upperclassman.</p>
<p>7. Magical Life Hacks. Whatever Peridot Palli had in store for her, Pearl decided it wasn't worth the effort of trying to one-up her, even if she had been itching to cast a dancing feet charm on her the entire time Peridot had been snarling at her. In fact, if she wasn't afraid of the spell backfiring and making Palli explode, Pearl probably would have put her theory into practice just to see the smirk wiped off of her face.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. My Courage

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> oh my god i know there are already a few steven universe hogwarts aus running around but i had to contribute something, i love harry potter so much and i love the wizarding world setting far more than the actual plot itself so here i am to exploit it and shove in all my favourite characters  
> naturally it is rosepearl, though there is some rosenet stuff in there too because you know how much i love that pairing too

Pearl knew it was a long shot right from the start, but when she first walked into the Great Hall to be sorted, her eyes fell on the girl with the pink hair and her face heated up. It was her own unspoken secret that for as long as she could remember she had always liked girls far more than boys. It had been kept far more guarded than the original discovery of her magic, which she had confided in her mother at the age of seven when she came home with an enchanted mop that had come to life and started to chase her.

She knew girls were supposed to like boys, boys were supposed to like girls, and so on so forth, but that still didn't explain the uneasy attraction she felt squirming in the bottom of her belly as she spared longing glances towards the fourth year with the candy pink hair, talking to a black girl donning opaque glasses, clad in a red and gold tie.

Pearl wondered how those two managed to get away with looking so pretty while the others around them looked marginally ordinary in the simple grey uniform and dark cloak. Pearl hid behind her first year hat, wondering when the comments about her nose would start. She often wondered why the world had cursed her with such a long, pointed nose, and part of her hoped that in the seven years she would be attending Hogwarts she would stumble across a cure for such an annoying trait.

One by one first years were being called up to the Sorting Hat, and Pearl was beginning to panic at the thought of sitting in front of the entire school while her fate was decided by a ratty old hat that held inside it a harsh, rusting voice. What if she tripped on the way up? What if she was pulling a silly face while praying to be put in the house that adorned the crimson and gold ties, just so she could talk to that mystery pink-haired fourth year?

Finally, her name was called, and she hurried forwards, thankful she hadn't tripped over her neatly laced shoes as she approached the seat. The sorting hat was lowered onto her head, and the teacher holding it offered her an encouraging smile – oh dear, did she really look _that_ terrified? - as she released it. Instantly, the voice filled her head.

“So, you're a nervous one.”

_Well, there are all these people here..._

“Still, it isn't like I'm holding a wand to your head. All right, lets see... you're a very intelligent girl, above average IQ...”

_Really?_ Pearl blushed.  _But that's only in muggle-related subjects. I suspect my current knowledge won't be much use here._

“Nonsense. Knowledge is fluid, not concrete – adapt it to a magically-inclined way of thinking, and it will flow as it did before. Some of the brightest alumnus of this school have been muggleborn. So clearly you are also humble and lack self-confidence – perhaps not a Slytherin, then...”

Pearl's gaze fell on the pink-haired girl, who was watching in earnest, though after a few moments turned to talk to her friend.

_What about the red house? The people with the red and gold ties, what do I need to be to be with them?_

“Red and gold ties? Why, has nobody mentioned the four houses to you? Have you not read up on them?”

Pearl's cheeks flamed.

_Er, I read up on the subjects extensively, but I might have missed the chapter on the houses. I haven't spoken to anybody yet, so I don't know the names of the houses._

“Griffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw and Slytherin. The house you are referring to is Griffindor, house of the brave and the courageous. Without confidence, it would be hard to place you there.”

_But there are different ways of being confident!_ Pearl internally insisted, growing desperate.  _I can be strong and courageous if I try. I can show her-_

She halted.

“Her, eh? You mean the one with the pink hair who you keep staring at?”

Oh geez, it really _was_ obvious.

“You think you're brave enough to tell her how you feel? The outside world is cruel. Students spread rumours. The two of you have never even talked.”

_There's no point. The outside world is cruel anyway. Kids spread rumours every day. I was bullied for my magic back home, I'm used to people talking about me. It'll be okay._

She glanced over at the girl again, inhaling sharply as their eyes met. The girl was watching her meaningfully, her dark eyes pouring with gleeful anticipation.

Pearl had to be brave.

_I like girls,_ she confided to the hat, and being able to say it to somebody else, even if the words weren't spoken aloud, filled her with a warm, intoxicating courage.  _I like girls and I'm going to talk to her, even if I get laughed at. That is my courage._

The hat didn't say a word for a few moments.

“Bravery is admitting when you are afraid, and accepting things you are afraid of.”

She had her fists clenched, praying, praying.

“Griffindor!”

Relief washed through her and she stood up all too quickly, head rushing slightly. The teacher beside her lifted the hat from her head, nodding with a smile, and Pearl's heart hammered in her chest as she stepped down and stumbled towards the Griffindor table.

She took a seat next to another elated first year and caught the eye of the pink-haired beauty, who now grinned at her.

“Welcome to Griffindor,” she said, reaching over to shake Pearl's hand, and Pearl took it, enamoured.

“Thank you,” she managed with a swallow.

The headmaster, with his long silver beard and smiling eyes, gave his speech, but Pearl found herself unable to focus on much of what he was saying.

The feast passed by in a daze, Pearl only nibbling at a small roll lathered with warm butter, before they were being ushered up to the dormitories. The girl with the pink curls said something flattering along with what sounded like some sort of code word before the portrait swung aside, and the first years were pushed through, some shoved out of the way by antsy second years looking to call dibs on the comfiest chairs.

“All right, first years, listen up,” the girl commanded, and they all fell silent. She towered over the rest of them, only rivalled in height by her friend from dinner. “I'm Rose, and this is Garnet. The older years have been kept behind by the professors for some sort of briefing, so we were asked by the prefects to give your welcome speech. Welcome to Griffindor. People say we're the top house, the best of the best, but that's frankly a load of crap.”

Quiet murmurings spread through the first years while the second, third and fourth years all groaned at Rose's unconventional speech.

“The houses were made to be equals to one another. Friendly competition is allowed, but if I hear about any of you tripping up Slytherins in the corridors or telling Hufflepuffs they don't belong here, you'll be answering to me. And, you know, the prefects. I want us all to be friends. You all look adorable in your squeaky clean uniforms and all, so I don't want to be remembered as the intimidating one who scares the pants off of you, but I won't hesitate to intervene if you're being arses to other houses. That clear?”

They all felt inclined to nod, and her face melted into a warm smile.

“Great! We'll all get along fine, then.”

 

…

 

It was late, but Pearl still couldn't sleep. She had been tossing and turning for the past few hours (first years had ridiculously early curfews) and it didn't help that she was receiving the brunt of the cold draft since her bed was closest to the window. Grateful her mother had insisted on her packing plenty of thick slipper socks, she slipped out of bed, shivering a little at the cold, and made her way down to the common room. She sat down in the chair nearest the slow-burning fire, enjoying the silence for a few moments, before muffled giggles interrupted her.

Her gaze darted around wildly, finally landing on a long tapestry near the door, adorned with the pattern of a griffin. There were two wiggling, giggling shapes behind it. Pearl froze.

“We should go back to bed already, it's cold down here...”

“Mmph... but I've been waiting for this all summer, geez.”

She knew it was wrong to be listening in, but from the voices... they both sounded female. Oh dear, oh god. Her face heated up as the noises continued, smacking kisses in between more hushed laughter, the odd whimper in between. Pearl shivered, her body feeling oddly warm, especially further down south, and she grabbed fistfuls of her pyjamas to try and distract herself.

Maybe she should go. It was a bad idea to-

The tapestry lifted suddenly, and she jumped up, ready to run.

“Hold on-” Rose emerged from behind the tapestry, and Pearl stopped, a deer in headlights, as the two made eye contact.

“Rose, what's the-” Garnet peeked out from behind Pearl, and stopped. “...matter...”

She trailed off, gauging the situation for herself. A timid first year had undoubtedly witnessed their little late night exchange, and if they didn't handle this carefully their secret could be blown wide open.

“You there. What's your name?”

Pearl swallowed.

“P-Pearl,” she said quietly. “Um, listen, I won't tell anyone-”

“Good. It's nobody's business but ours.”

Garnet's tone was firm, and Pearl shrank back instinctively. Rose glanced between the two of them.

“Garnet, let me handle this, okay?”

“Sure,” muttered Garnet darkly. “I'm going to bed.”

Once she was out of earshot, Rose turned to Pearl, steering her to sit down.

“She's mad at me,” Rose said with a sigh. “She didn't want to meet in the common room, but I was being needy. And now she thinks it's all over.”

“I-I-I won't say anything,” Pearl stuttered, fumbling with her hands nervously. “I swear I'll keep quiet. I just came down because I couldn't sleep.”

“I know you won't,” Rose said, offering her a warm smile. “You look very trustworthy. Can I trust you to keep this secret for me?”

“Of course,” Pearl said all too quickly. She hugged herself, not realising she had blurted out, “Y-You like girls?” until Rose had let out a small laugh.

“I do. I like boys too. Everyone has something different to offer.”

“I do too,” whispered Pearl. Her face was a rich crimson, blood pounding in her ears, heart racing. “I like girls too.”

“You do?” Rose echoed, before her face split into a smile. “Well then, good for you. I wish you the best of luck finding your own happiness.”

She stood up and offered Pearl her hand.

“What's your name again, hon?”

Pearl took it, noting Rose's hand was the tiniest bit damp.

“Pearl.”

“It's nice to meet you, Pearl,” Rose said softly. “Welcome to Griffindor house.”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this probably won't update very regularly but i really wanted to write it so -shrugs-  
> inspired by this song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ybxl3Cyowu0 (turn on annotations)


	2. Library Talks

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> 2\. After what had transpired the other night, Pearl thought it best to keep her distance from the two fourth year girls she had caught making out in the common room after hours. Even if she was undeniably attracted to one of them. Oh dear. So much for allowing a pretty girl to control her fate.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here I am again (so much for barely updating lmao). I'm amazed by the feedback, I'm so grateful everyone is enjoying my fic so far!!
> 
> So I have surnames for the three mains so far:  
> Pearl Bisera (means 'pearl' in Bulgarian)  
> Rose Quartz (the standard lol)  
> Garnet Aberra (means 'shining' in Ethiopian)

After what had transpired the other night, Pearl thought it best to keep her distance from the two fourth year girls she had caught making out in the common room after hours. Even if she was undeniably attracted to one of them. Oh dear. So much for allowing a pretty girl to control her fate.

It should have been easy to make friends, but the other first years were all so... childish. She couldn't fault them for getting homesick, Hogwarts was a far cry from her home in Devon, but kicking up such a fuss that the fifth years had been forced to abandon their study group to comfort them? Yeah, that was pretty immature.

It wasn't like she wasn't used to this; being the third child of seven in total, she was used to having to be the mature one, and was even more used to keeping her head down and being forgotten by those around her. Thus, she continued to read up on the wizarding world for the next few weeks while everyone around her made friends.

Classes were easy to grasp, like the hat had promised her; once she applied herself, she was fine. The magic part was a little harder to comprehend, but potions seemed a lot like the chemistry videos she would binge-watch on YouTube with her sisters during visiting hours, and she took to it right away. Practicals weren't particularly difficult at this point, since the professors were only now introducing them to the basics, but the theory was something she thrived on. She had always loved to write, and the essays came extremely easy to her, although it was a pain having to handwrite things with a quill and ink instead of using a ballpoint pen, of which she had dozens littering her suitcase.

“Pearl, is that you?”

Pearl glanced up from the parchment she was beginning to write on – if one thing was for certain, she hated having to use rolls of parchment when she could be using lined paper instead – and met Rose's burning gaze, inches from her face. She flinched back, nearly spilling her ink.

“Woah – it's okay, Pearl, I've got it.” Rose carefully put the ink back down again, screwing the lid on tightly to avoid more spillages. She took a seat opposite, resting her chin on her hand. “How are you doing, hon? Hard at work, I see.”

“Y-Yes, I have this paper due on Friday,” Pearl said hurriedly. “It's just a potions one, nothing big.”

“Well, I have all my papers stored away in my desk in case any of the younger years feel like copying, I could always slip you one if you'd like,” Rose offered casually.

Pearl shook her head. “Absolutely not. I can only learn through doing it myself.”

“That's a good mantra. I wish I was as hard working as you are. I'm just looting some spare parchment from here, the scrolls from Flourish and Blotts are seriously overpriced.”

Their conversation ran dry. Pearl glanced back down at her work, blushing a little at the attention Rose was giving her. These days people tended to ignore her; Rose was the first person to make an attempt today, aside from professors calling registration. Truthfully, Pearl had been avoiding Rose for as long as possible, chiefly because of the intimidating glances Garnet Aberra was giving her in passing. She knew she was to blame for the whole thing, although it didn't look like Garnet was saying all that much to Rose either. It had been three weeks, and Pearl was trying to stay out of their way in fear that one of them would blame her for their friendship (not to mention their budding relationship) drifting apart.

“Pearl? Did I do something wrong?”

Pearl's gaze snapped up to meet Rose's. She was staring at Pearl in earnest, trying to figure her out. She was nibbling on her lower lip ever so slightly, the sight extremely distracting to Pearl.

“Wh-What? No, of course you didn't, I-I just...” Pearl glanced down again, setting her quill down atop of her inkwell.

“I'm sorry if I made you uncomfortable when we talked the other night.” Rose glanced around at the empty shelves (Quidditch tryouts were tonight, so most of the school were out watching people crash and burn instead of studying up; that said, this area of the library was scarcely used as it was). “I know how tricky it can be coming to terms with yourself. I'm not even out to my own parents, so Hogwarts is my safe haven. I know you said you were okay with it, but... I hope we didn't scare you.”

“That isn't it. I-I'm not bothered by it, r-really,” Pearl said quickly. She played with her hands nervously. “It's true that I'm still working it out, but... I just didn't want to seem like I was trying to get between you and Aberra while you were working things out. I think she's still angry with me.”

“Oh, no, Garnet isn't mad at you,” Rose insisted. “Pearl, Garnet is just... like that. She's a very reserved person. She knows it was our fault – we got carried away. She isn't mad at me either, she's just a lady of few words.”

“Oh.” Pearl was beginning to feel pretty silly now.

“It's okay, you didn't know. How about we invite you out to The Three Broomsticks some time, you can get to know us? Oh, wait – you can't, you're only a first year.”

Pearl bit her lip. “...I should be in my third year by now, really.”

“Really?” Rose leaned a little closer, intrigued. “Were you a late bloomer? Did you start going to a muggle school or something? Oh, I mean, assuming you're a muggleborn.”

“I am.” Pearl sighed. She suddenly found she couldn't look at Rose, opting to pick at a cuticle instead. “I was in remission so my parents didn't want me going to Hogwarts until I was completely cured. But I don't suppose you really know what I'm talking about. Do witches and wizards even get cancer? I know you don't have any cures to such things, my parents already tried asking the headmaster.”

Rose moved to sit at the chair beside her, pulling an arm around her tentatively.

“No, just because we're magic doesn't mean we're immune.” Rose frowned. “Wow... I'm sorry for asking, Pearl. We don't have to talk about it if you don't want.”

“Thank you,” Pearl said. Her face was red, she could tell. She hoped Rose wasn't looking down at her with pity. That was the last thing to screw her over. Well, she supposed she'd wanted the details. “Maybe one day. I'm only just past that chapter of my life, I don't really want to relive it again any time soon.”

“Of course. Well, if you're supposed to be in third year, I guess you could ask the head of house for a pass to Hogsmeade? I'm sure she'd consider it.”

“Maybe,” Pearl said lamely, uncertain if Rose realised how overbearing the Hogwarts staff could be to a student on their file of 'special cases'.

Rose grinned, before glancing out of the window. It was nearing seven, and the setting sun cast a peach glow across the sky, tinting the clouds with the same pink of Rose's hair.

“Your hair is pretty,” Pearl commented, before she could help herself. Rose hummed in amusement as she glanced away, berating herself.

“You think so? Thank you.” She sounded quite pleased, really. “I'm actually pretty pleased with how this colour looks on me. I've tried a ton of different shades, mostly reds, but pink really does seem to fit best.”

“I-I didn't realise witches and wizards had... hair dye,” Pearl added, searching for something less ridiculous to fill the space.

“My dear, we have spells for most things, hair dye being a novelty. Some with higher success rates than others. I have to cast this one once a week otherwise my roots start to show. They're blonde so it's not really noticeable, but it's always better to keep a routine in check, don't you think?”

“Y-Yes, of course,” Pearl said quickly. “You're absolutely right. Um, that's interesting, though. What year do you learn that spell?”

“Third year was when I learned it, but... I learned it as an extra-curricular, so to speak.” She flashed Pearl a dazzling smile. “They don't really like students to dye their hair, but my family is pretty powerful and has some dirt on several professors, so they don't bother me.”

“You're blackmailing them?!” Pearl hissed, wide-eyed.

“No, no, I'm not. My family are... not the nicest people. They have the details, that's all. Hence why the professors are keen to ignore my hair. I would never do that, Pearl.”

Pearl wasn't quite so sure. Rose had this ambitious streak to her from what Pearl had seen in passing so far, and she had no idea what the limits to her determination were.

“Of course, metamorphmagi have the advantage of being born with the ability to change their hair colour, so there's not much the professors can do to be honest. So by all means do it, they can't really do much to you, but you probably won't be in their good books.”

“I think I'm going to stay in the good books for now, thank you,” muttered Pearl, the spiel on metamorphmagi going straight over her head. She'd have to read up on what those were later. She watched as Rose played with the end of one of her tight curls. “S-So you and Aberra really are still together?”

“Oh, yeah, we are. Me and Garnet are fine. She may have a cool exterior, but on the inside she is incredibly affectionate. She's just closeted to spite her parents, that's all. She's like, totally cool with you knowing, so long as you don't go spreading it.”

“She doesn't blame me, then?” Pearl sighed a little in relief. “Well, that's good. I'm glad.”

“She's a total softie. She'll love you if you hang out with us sometime. On warm nights we take a few rolls from dinner and eat them down by the lake. You're more than welcome to hang out with us then, if you don't already have plans with anybody.”

“I'd love to,” Pearl said quickly. “The truth is, I can't get along with any of the other first years. They're just so-”

“Childish? Tell me about it.” Rose sighed dramatically. “I mean, they're cute, but I've never seen such a fuss kicked up by them the other night. I've already caught a few of them picking fights with Slytherins, too. After what I told them, as well...”

Pearl didn't know much about the hatred going on between houses, but now that she thought about it, a few days ago she'd witnessed a group of Ravenclaw boys running through one of the staircases, hitting books out of a gaggle of Slytherin girls' hands and laughing as their books fell down to land on a staircase several floors below. So apparently bullying other houses was a thing that still happened.

“Well, you're one person,” Pearl said seriously, and Rose glanced over at her. “You can't handle the masses by yourself. That's the job of the prefects.”

“A valid point.” Rose smiled and stood, ruffling Pearl's hair. “I'll leave you to your studying then, Pearl. Unless you'd like to come back to the common room with me?”

Pearl nodded all too quickly, picking up her things and hastily stacking them into her arms, ignoring the fact that now she was holding the pile in place with her chin she'd undoubtedly have splotches of ink on her face.

“Y-Yes, of course!”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope the reason behind Pearl being a late starter at Hogwarts doesn't make anyone mad... truth is, Pearl reminds me a lot of a girl I used to go to school with. She had a type of blood cancer (I can't remember what kind, though), but she still worked so hard and maintained top grades and went to school whenever she could and ended up doing so well in exams. I think of her a lot even though we don't go to the same college so I don't hear about her much anymore. Thinking of this Hogwarts Pearl, she really reminded me of my friend. So yeah, this is for Katie.
> 
> I don't know how often I'll keep updating this, just whenever inspiration strikes, I guess. Other characters will appear soon!!


	3. Lakeside Feast

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> 3\. Lakeside Feast. Sneaking out of the castle wasn't nearly as challenging as Pearl had envisioned in the tense walk down to the heavy oak doors. Nobody seemed to notice or care (there was no professor on duty, just a couple of Hufflepuff prefects getting all too close for comfort, barely sparing them a passing glance) as they stepped out, Rose carrying herself with an air of confidence.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Finally Garnet and Pearl interacting properly! I'm so excited, their dynamic kills me!!  
> I really do love these three. I don't think I'll ot3 them in this fic but their trio is adorable. I have a couple more chapters planned but I might stick a few extras with Greg, Amethyst and others in, since the next two are pretty much just Pearl and Rose. Gotta mix things up a bit sometimes, right??

Why did her mother always insist on kicking up such a fuss?

When her phone had started to ring right before supper, Pearl had nearly jumped. She'd forgotten what it sounded like; her parents had promised to only call once a week after her constant pleading for them to stop being so protective over her now she was finally leaving for Hogwarts. Amazingly they had stuck to their word. Still, the sound was a lot more obnoxious than she remembered.

Their call had lasted nearly twenty minutes, and supper was well and truly under way by now. She doubted any of the vegetarian options were left (while she wasn't strictly vegetarian she did wonder if the elves who prepared the meals were certain of the quality of the meat they were purchasing, and after seeing a third year throwing up following eating some sort of pasty covered in orange dust she decided it'd be a lot safer to stay away from the meat for the time being).

“So you haven't made any friends yet?” worried her mother. “Pearl, you know that first impressions are lasting. You need to hurry up and put yourself out there, baby.”

“I have made a friend,” Pearl protested. “She's just not in my year. She's in my house though, so I still get to see her. It's hard talking to the other first years, they're all much younger than me.”

“I suppose you have a point. But you _have_ made a friend?”

“Yes. Her name is Rose and she's really nice,” Pearl said with a sigh, wishing her mother would hang up already so she could at least grab some leftovers. “Mother, please can I hang up now? I have to go to the hall to eat.”

“All right, all right. I'm just worried about you, my sweet, that's all.” Her mother paused. “And you're feeling all right? Nothing out of the ordinary?”

“I'm fine. I promise.”

She bid her farewell and hung up, glancing at her battery. She chewed her lip, praying that there was some sort of spell for an electrical charge that could aid in reviving her only current source of communication with her parents from 11%. Maybe Rose would know.

As Pearl stood up, brushing off her skirt and reaching for her cloak to go down to the Great Hall, the door opened and Rose walked in holding a pink plastic container.

“Oh, there you are, Pearl!” she smiled. “I saw you weren't eating downstairs and figured you were hard at work again and missed the bell. Shall we catch a bite down by the lake?”

“U-Um, of course! I was just on the phone with my mom.” Pearl shrugged on her robe, knowing it would be quite chilly this time of night. “Wait, you said you have food?”

“Yep! I smuggled some out from dinner. Me and Garnet do this all the time. It just gets so crowded in the hall, you know? Especially with the new first years and all. It's fine, we never get caught.”

“You're sure?” mumbled Pearl dubiously, reaching for her scarf. It was mid October now, and the air was crisp and cold almost constantly, although the sun did make its presence known from behind milky clouds a few hours a day at its peak. “I don't want to get in trouble.”

At first she expected Rose to laugh, but instead she shook her head fondly. “We won't, silly, I promise! Nobody cares, so long as you're back for the first years' curfew. Me and Garnet have a test coming up in a few days, a transfiguration mock for our OWLs, so we'll be heading back same time as you.”

Sneaking out of the castle wasn't nearly as challenging as Pearl had envisioned in the tense walk down to the heavy oak doors. Nobody seemed to notice or care (there was no professor on duty, just a couple of Hufflepuff prefects getting all too close for comfort, barely sparing them a passing glance) as they stepped out, Rose carrying herself with an air of confidence. Garnet was already sat at what Rose claimed to be their 'usual spot', on a picnic blanket adorned in Griffindor house colours near the shallows of the lake. Garnet had her feet dangling in, her socks and shoes discarded off to one side, and her unfastened tie was hanging around her neck, giving the impression of somebody ready to strip and dive into the cool waters.

“Hey,” she greeted as they took their seats beside her. Pearl perched nervously on the edge while Rose splayed out on the grass and loosened her own tie, setting down the plastic container on the blanket instead. It was then that Pearl noticed Garnet had already set up three separate containers.

“You're going to be stuck in the Hospital Wing with pneumonia if you keep this up,” Rose teased. “Aren't you cold, G?”

Garnet shrugged.

“Compared to Quidditchamie, this is nothing,” she said simply.

“Garnet is trying to become Quidditch Captain for Griffindor,” Rose explained, noting Pearl's puzzled expression. “Quidditchamie is this European training camp for aspiring Quidditch players, it's this whole hardcore endurance thing, and only about 30 percent of it was actual games. Garnet was in Luxembourg all summer. Away from me.” She batted her eyes woefully in Garnet's direction at that.

“You lived,” pointed out Garnet. She removed her feet from the water, drying them on her edge of the blanket, before tugging her socks on over feet with toenails painted deep shades of blues, reds and purples in no consistent pattern. Pearl caught a flash of creeping black lace from the angle of Garnet's skirt and flushed a deep red, ducking her head and fiddling with her hands instead.

“I know, but I missed you,” protested Rose, leaning in for a kiss. Garnet went to stop her, but Pearl didn't appear to be looking anyway, so she indulged Rose out in the open just this once before pulling apart the plastic containers they had swiped from dinner. Inside were a few bread rolls, buttered and still warm from the insulated container, quiche, salad, sausages, miniature pork pies and a few bakewell tarts from the dessert tray (how Rose had prematurely gotten her hands on those, they had no idea).

Pearl's eyes widened at the small feast.

“How did you manage to take all this without someone saying anything?”

“Oh, they say things, but they don't really have any power over us,” Rose said nonchalantly, helping herself to a pork pie. “I mean, the prefects are too busy to care about stuff like that, they're pouring over practice papers and studying up on incantations, since their mocks are right around the corner. Other years are either too young or too tired to speak up, so we managed to get away with it. Probably one of the easier escapes we've made.”

“ _You_ made,” Garnet corrected. “I just took what I needed and headed for the lake, nobody bothered me.”

“Yeah, because they think you'll break their faces.”

Their playful banter continued as they began to eat, and Pearl hesitated before reaching for a quiche and chewing thoughtfully. Truthfully, being outside with these two was a lot more pleasant than trying to make conversation with Rose over the busy din of the hall, while Garnet would sit off to one side reading a textbook on potions. They acted a lot more like best friends on their own than they had when she'd been with them in the past; though she hadn't spent much time with Garnet at all it was safe to say that in the presence of others she tended to close up, her excuse tending to be that she needed to study up for potions or they'd take her off the team (which was technically true, although apparently she was seeking out a tutor to keep her busy).

“How long have you two been together?” asked Pearl absent-mindedly, helping herself to a bread roll, and the two fourth years exchanged uneasy glances.

“Pearl,” Rose began, ready to ask her to drop the subject, before Garnet spoke up.

“Not that long, although we've been best friends for far longer,” Garnet said with a sparing glance towards Rose. “Since we arrived at Hogwarts, pretty much. We only admitted our feelings for each other towards the end of last year, though.”

“Which makes it all the worse that we didn't see each other over summer,” Rose finished dramatically. “Why, I sent her twelve letters, Pearl! That's two a week! I even had to borrow my mother's owl to do it. And what do I get? A single letter in return towards the end of August saying 'I'll tell you on the train'. Unbelievable!”

“I drew a heart too, Rose,” protested Garnet. “A heart.”

“You're always the one saying you're made of love, how can you claim that and then only send me one measly letter? Honestly...”

Garnet chuckled, a low rumbling in her chest, and Pearl realised with a tiny smile that this was the first time she had ever heard Garnet laugh. The notion was so warming to her that she let out a short giggle of her own, and both Rose and Garnet shifted their gazes to her in surprise.

“That's the first I've heard you laugh, Pearl,” pointed out Rose with a grin. “What a rare sound.”

“It's the first I've heard Garnet laugh too,” Pearl deflected, and suddenly Rose was scooping the two of them into an awkward, crushing hug that made Pearl all too aware of the fullness of Rose's breasts, pressing up against her cheek and smelling so strongly of her it was a little intoxicating.

“Both of my girls laughing, how lovely indeed,” gushed Rose, and Garnet and Pearl exchanged glances before grinning in earnest.

“'m trying to eat, Rose, maybe we can save this hug for later?” Garnet teased.

“Maybe save your food for later?” Rose countered, though she let them go.

With more playful talk punctuated with bites of their food, the feast slowly ebbed away into nothing more than empty containers and crumbs as the sun sank lower in the sky.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ahh what a lovely trio. As always leave a comment if you liked it! I love talking about this au with people!!


	4. Growing Pains

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> 4\. Growing Pains. As she listened out for their raised voices (praying none of them would hear her urinating) she hung her robe up on the door hook, pulled down her underwear and stared in horror at the small dark stain that had appeared in the soft white of the fabric like ink bleeding through old parchment.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> OKAYYYYY so this chapter is about menstruation, i know that's a tricky topic for some people so feel free to skip, it's not that important other than minor introductions of characters and some fluff  
> on the other hand pearl feels like quite a late bloomer to me so i wanted to write this scene (especially since i got my period the other day and it always makes me feel really sick and achy, i just want a rose to give me some comforting and love). that's pretty much all i have to say lmao

Pearl first felt the uncomfortable pain in her lower stomach while she was sitting in the common room with Rose and Garnet on a cloudy Thursday afternoon.

Classes had been finished for about an hour and it was the designated study hour that the seventh years had decided to put into place to keep everyone on top of studies in time for Quidditch season (Pearl would have pointed out that the older years already had a self study period on their timetables, but who was she to challenge them when she had work to catch up on anyway?). She was starting an essay on some basic transfiguration techniques, but had barely gotten past the introductory paragraph before her stomach had started to hurt.

She grimaced and put a hand to the side of her abdomen. Maybe it was indigestion? But she hadn't eaten in hours. Maybe someone had spiked her pumpkin juice with one of those prank sweets that left the consumer with serious intestinal distress.

Fortunately, Rose and Garnet were too wrapped up in their own work to notice her discomfort. Rose had insisted on trying to help Garnet improve with potions, but it wasn't proving to be easy given Garnet often spaced out when listening to the professors who weren't her extremely overbearing mothers. It was a wonder she was excelling most of her subjects, honestly.

The room felt all too warm, the radio (so apparently Hogwarts was connected to some sort of wireless system) cranking out a crappy talk show all too loud. She could feel sweat on the back of her neck, leaving her feeling clammy and gross.

“I'm just going to the bathroom,” Pearl said quietly, rising to her feet. Something didn't feel right, and on top of the pain she was now beginning to feel a little nauseous. Brilliant.

“Okay, see you in a minute,” murmured Rose dismissively, reading through the practice paper she had forced Garnet to sit. “For real, G? That isn't even one of the common ingredients.”

Pearl left the common room and walked briskly down a corridor filled with second year Hufflepuffs giggling over something or other, before entering the nearest bathroom. There were a couple of Slytherin and Hufflepuff girls fixing themselves up in the mirror (Pearl had to wonder what they were doing on this floor since their common rooms were on the ground floor) who paid her no attention as she wandered into the nearest stall. As she listened out for their raised voices (praying none of them would hear her urinating) she hung her robe up on the door hook, pulled down her underwear and stared in horror at the small dark stain that had appeared in the soft white of the fabric like ink bleeding through old parchment.

Dear god. Could there have _been_ a worse time to start menstruating? She had begged the heavens to give her a period months before starting at Hogwarts for fear of this moment happening when she had nobody around to help her out. She wasn't carrying any pads or tampons around in her robe, and she knew she only had a few emergency ones stowed away in her trunk. How utterly embarrassing.

She grabbed a wad of toilet paper first, hoping she could form herself a makeshift pad long enough to run back up to the dormitories and grab a proper pad from her trunk, but of course she was wearing fucking socks today instead of tights, wasn't she? It wasn't secure, what if it slipped out? That'd be even worse.

She felt hot tears welling up in her eyes and shut them tightly, praying the stain and the stomach ache would be gone when she opened them again. When they didn't, the reality of the situation felt more real, and she began to sniffle softly.

The laughter from the girls outside stopped abruptly, and after a few moments of quiet murmurs there was a tap at the stall Pearl was in.

“Hey, are you all right in there?” came a slightly scratchy-sounding voice. “Was that weasel Marty Sawyer giving you hell? He's a piece of shit, you should ignore him, okay? He loves to pick on first years, he'll get bored of teasing you eventually.”

“I-It's not that,” whimpered Pearl, wiping her eyes and sniffling pathetically.

“It's not? What's the matter, then? Need us to get someone?”

“R-Rose,” Pearl choked out, snivelling like an idiot. “Rose Quartz, sh-she's a Griffindor-”

“You need Rose? I know her; I can get her,” said the scratchy-sounding voice again, before footsteps sounded, growing fainter until they were swallowed by the din outside. “Stay with her, V!” her voice chimed faintly.

Another girl began speaking to her, a little more mellow-sounding.

“Is there something I can help you with, kid?”

“N-No,” muttered Pearl, feeling more ridiculous by the minute. “I-I'm sorry for being a bother.”

“Hey, you aren't bothering us, we just want you to feel better. I'm Vidalia. What's your name?”

“P-Pearl.”

“Pearl? Do you want to tell me what's wrong?”

“I can't,” wept Pearl. “I'm sorry.”

Oh dear, how embarrassing. She'd managed to get the older girls involved as well, all because she was too shy to just tell them outright she needed to borrow a pad. How ridiculous.

Fortunately, at that moment the footsteps returned and she could hear instantly from the lilt of the footsteps that they belonged to Rose.

“Pearl, I'm here,” called Rose. “What's the matter?”

Pearl bit her lip and tried hard to stop crying, but found she was unable to completely still her tears. After a few moments of silence filled only with Pearl's quiet sniffles, Rose clapped her hands together.

“Okay, Amethyst, Vidalia, thank you so much for bringing me to her but she's a shy one. Could I ask you to leave? Or to wait outside the bathroom a little while? I'll be quick.”

“Sure, we were about to head down to the common room anyway,” Vidalia chimed in. “Come on, Amethyst. Feel better soon, Pearl!”

Amethyst echoed the same, before the sound of their footprints melted into the outside noise.

“Pearl? It's just me in here now. Care to tell me what's wrong?”

“It's so stupid,” she said with a hiccup, hating herself more and more for kicking up such a fuss.

“It isn't,” Rose said more gently. “Come on, Pearl, please tell me? I'm not gonna be mad, I just want to know what's going on.”

“...M-My period,” she squeaked, and she started to cry again, feeling more and more ridiculous and ashamed. “I-I-I got my period and this is my first-first time and I don't have anything to use!”

Unbelievable.

“Oh, Pearl,” sighed Rose, and Pearl shrank further into herself. Oh, she hated everything about this situation. “It's okay, hon, it's not a big deal. Hang on.” There was the sound of rummaging for a few moments, before something slid under the door. “I always carry a spare on me. It might be a bit big on you, but it's better than nothing. Do you have any more your size back in your trunk?”

“Yeah.”

Pearl wiped her face on her sleeve before ripping the pad open, instantly feeling better now that Rose was here, even if the entire situation was embarrassing.

When she finally left the stall, Rose pulled her into a hug.

“Better now?”

Pearl nodded, breathing in Rose's scent.

Once she had washed up and Rose had wiped her face with water to ease the redness around her eyes and nose, Rose slung an arm around her and they headed back to the common room.

“If your stomach hurts we can go to the Hospital Wing, Doctor Mahaeswaran has potions and pills that can help.”

“Please,” murmured Pearl, and Rose steered them in the general direction casually, arm still around Pearl. She never said anything patronising along the lines of 'becoming a woman' or 'the next step to becoming a mother', like her own mother often said in passing to her sisters. She simply carried on talking to Pearl kindly, without any sort of special treatment aside from the hand squeezing her shoulder in comfort.

“I'll run through a few things with you so this doesn't happen again, I can even teach you a silencing spell if the sound of ripping one open makes you embarrassed.”

“And you won't tell Garnet?” asked Pearl in a small voice.

“Of course not,” Rose promised with a smile. “It's nobody's business but yours.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> next chapter, some quidditch stuff!! (and another character introduction, i wonder if anyone can guess who it is, considering i haven't really done any foreshadowing...)  
> as usual feel free to comment and tell me what you think!


	5. The Lowdown On Quidditch

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> 5\. The Lowdown On Quidditch. Pearl had never seen anything like it. Rose, of course, had been enthralled with the almost violent thrum of competitive spirit that washed through the walls of Hogwarts, and was determined to rope Pearl into watching the match with her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So a new face will be featuring this chapter. I wonder who guessed right  
> Anyway, there's probably gonna be another chapter of build up before the big match, but then again maybe not. I just want Jasper and Garnet to exchange words, maybe even throw a few punches or something.

The first Quidditch match of the school year was a typical Griffindor VS Slytherin feud, the type that carried with it hushed whispers of conspiracies, of ambushes on various players of both teams, of Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws taking bets on their favoured house and friend groups containing both Slytherins and Griffindors suddenly oddly sharp with one another. Pearl had never seen anything like it. The usual friendly (sometimes bitter) rivalry between houses had suddenly increased tenfold in a matter of days since the match schedules had been posted. Rose, of course, had been enthralled with the almost violent thrum of competitive spirit that washed through the walls of Hogwarts, and was determined to rope Pearl into watching the match with her.

“Garnet will be playing for our team this year,” she explained one night, over spaghetti and dark sauce seasoned with spices Pearl had never heard of. “She's a beater, which means she uses a bat-” She shook some spaghetti free of her fork and held it with both hands, as if holding a baseball bat, “-and hits the bludgers with it-” She swung, nearly knocking a first year on the head, “-sorry about that, anyway, she hits the bludgers away from our team and they hit off her extremely sturdy bat and go towards the opposing team instead.”

“That sounds dangerous,” Pearl inputs unhelpfully, twirling her own spaghetti (plain, she always has been apprehensive about spicy food in general) around her fork.

“Oh trust me, it is. Sometimes Garnet gets seriously pummelled during a match. It's okay though, she always gets patched up just fine. No need to look so worried, Pearl!” She rubbed the crease between Pearl's eyes, and Pearl shrank away, biting her lip. “Anyway, Garnet's tough stuff, usually she does a pretty solid job at making the other teams pay. This year our friend Amethyst made the team too, so it should be pretty fun no matter who wins.”

The girl from the bathroom, Pearl silently acknowledged with a slight blush at the memory. She'd spotted her a few times with her friend Vidalia since the incident, but had always been too shy to say anything to them. They hadn't seen her face anyway, so they hadn't made any attempt to talk to her so far.

“Oh, and here is our precious famed beater herself!” Rose cooed as Garnet sloped down beside her, grabbing a heavy plate and heaping spaghetti onto it. “Where were you?”

“Getting some more practice on the pitch. I don't even care if I fail my potions test tomorrow,” she said with a rare grin, before drowning her spaghetti in the strange sauce. “It was real fucking windy out there, though.”

“You _should_ care about failing potions tomorrow, Garnet, they're threatening to take you off the team as it is,” Rose chided. “Come on, we can do some last minute revision in the common room later, okay?”

She leaned over to grab a piece of garlic bread, fingers tracing Garnet's hand idly, and the two of them smiled at each other for a brief moment before carrying on. Pearl couldn't help but laugh a little at their attempts to be subtle.

“What's that look for?” Garnet asked.

“Oh, nothing,” she said quickly, but failed to hide the smile on her face. Rose's mouth split into a grin.

“It's just such a rare sight to see you in such high spirits,” she pointed out with a bubbly laugh of her own. Garnet swallowed her mouthful of food before slamming her fork down and flexing her arms a little. Pearl was sure her muscles were strong, but she could hardly see a thing through the heavy sleeve of Garnet's robe.

“What can I say? The match is upcoming. I finally get to face off with that crapshoot beater Jasper Burakgazi after last year's trainwreck of a final.”

“What happened last year?” Pearl asked, reaching for her goblet, bursting with curiosity.

She had never been very into sports, preferring academics and online gaming (it was hard to do run around after a football when you were exhausted from chemo, anyway), but Hogwarts seemed fairly dedicated to their extra-curricular sports, so she was eager to learn about anything she'd missed out on. Besides, if she could get Garnet talking about Quidditch, maybe she could learn some useful tips about flying (as far as first year classes went, flying was probably her least favourite since she could barely get the damn broom off the ground).

“In the middle of the match she took me by surprise, got one of her fucking benched stooges to jinx my broom and slammed me into the Hufflepuff tower. Gave me a clean break on my right leg, so I was out for the count while someone took me to the Hospital Wing.” Garnet punctuated this with a mouthful of spaghetti, which she chewed and quickly swallowed before continuing. “Mahaeswaran fixed me up in about a week, but it was a costly mistake. Some poor third year was subbed out in my place, got the crap beaten out of them with a bludger, and Slytherin won by about sixty points.”

“It was a close match, Garnet, if that rotten fifth year hadn't jinxed you, who knows.” Rose leaned over to squeeze her hand again, but Garnet lifted it abruptly, resting her chin on it instead as she continued to eat.

“It was a shameful defeat, and a shameful victory on Slytherin's part. I know they aren't all a load of sods, so why take that victory like it was theirs instead of doing the honourable thing? I'll never understand it.” She continued to eat, now a dark fury powering the ferocity of which she chewed. “It was all Jasper fucking Burakgazi's doing. Asshole.”

“Mind that tone, Garnet,” came a soft but firm voice, and a slender hand tapped her lightly on the head in a condescending fashion. Garnet groaned.

“Mother,” she greeted.

Pearl's eyes travelled up, but not that far – the professor stood before her was barely taller than Rose and Garnet were sitting down, and her face was obscured by pale bangs, a pale silver-blue that Pearl suspected was charmed into being (she'd read up on a colour change charm, perhaps that was the hair dye spell Rose had mentioned). She shared Garnet's full lips, which curled up into a smile at Garnet's dismal tone.

“It's good to see you again, Rose,” she said, and Rose quickly nodded. “Have you been enjoying divination this year?”

“Oh, yes, it's been very helpful,” Rose agreed all too readily. “I've, um, loved being able to use crystal balls again this year, they were my favourites.”

“Oh, I'm so glad! Crystal balls seem to be popular, I'm glad I introduced them to the curriculum for your class.” Her eyes honed in on Pearl. “And who is this, hmm? A friend of yours? Could this be the dear Pearl I've been hearing so much about?”

“Yeah. Pearl's a first year, which is why she doesn't have a class with you. Pearl, this is my mother. She prefers Madam Sapphire. She's a divination teacher, and you don't start divination until third year, which is why this is your first time meeting.”

“You can understand now why she is wise beyond her years, Pearl, I'm sure,” Sapphire said with a small laugh. “She takes after me in divination, but after her mom on the Quidditch field. You have so many skills, Garnet, and such a bright head, so make sure you prove that on your potions test tomorrow. I won't be happy if I get another grilling after the staff meeting about your poor grades.”

“I'll work hard,” Garnet deadpanned unconvincingly.

“Well, I have to go bring your mom some food, she'll be out on the pitch until the sun goes down,” Sapphire said, exasperated. “I'll be on my way now. It was lovely seeing you again, Rose. And it was lovely meeting you, Pearl.”

They waved awkward farewells and Garnet's mother swayed down the end of the table and out of the heavy doors, presumably towards the pitch.

“That was your mother,” Pearl stated as soon as she was gone.

“Yes.” Garnet continued to eat, pretending Pearl's initial impression didn't matter to her.

“She was very-”

“Short?” Garnet said with a snort. “She's part goblin, somewhere down the line. So's my mom. It's how they met, at some sort of weird convention. They can never understand how I ended up so tall.”

“I was going to say graceful,” shot back Pearl. She fidgeted with her hands. “So you have two mothers? No father?”

“Nope, no father. Just my mother and my mom. They're both professors. Mother teaches divination, Mom teaches flying.”

“Your mom is Madam Ruby?” cried Pearl. Now that she'd said that, Pearl was beginning to see the resemblance. They both had the same coarse hair, the same nose, the same impish look about them.

“You look worried. Does she scare you?” Rose asked with a snort. Pearl blushed and lowered her head.

“I-It's not that, just... oh, I don't think she likes me, Garnet, because I'm so bad I can't even get a bloody broom in my hand using magic,” confessed Pearl, with a deep sigh. “I thought I could handle one teacher finding my frustrating to teach, but now I know she's your mom I can't help but want her to like me. What a disaster.”

“I'm sure she doesn't hate you, Pearl. She's always prickly towards people who aren't brilliant at flying. She's always been like that. She didn't even accept my mother's invitation for a second date until she raced her around a nearby poppy field on broomsticks and won.”

Garnet finished up her food and rose to her feet.

“Look, I'll put in a good word for you. Maybe I can even help you out with flying once this match is out the way, just try and hang on until then.” She paused for a few moments, before her gaze fell on Rose. “Rose, you coming?”

“Oh, yeah, I'm done.” Rose stood too, smoothing down her skirt at the back. “Are you ready too, Pearl?”

“Oh... yes...”

The two turned to leave, talking amongst themselves, and Pearl followed hastily behind them, fastening up her robe as the chilly air from beyond the doors ruffled her fringe.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Don't tell me the image of Ruby and Sapphire racing each other on broomsticks around a field isn't hilarious  
> Anyway as usual, leave me a comment if you enjoyed the chapter! ^^


	6. Confrontations

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> 6\. Confrontations. Now, most students were strictly loyal to their houses – while there were inter-house friends, and so on so forth, rarely would you see such a feat as approximately thirty students beat the ever living crap out of Jasper Burakgazi. And yet, here it was.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've been beating this chapter around the bush for nearly 2 months now, but in the end no matter how many times I rewrite it, it still ends up feeling pretty weird. But this needs to happen for later on, so I guess in the end I just decided fuck it, I'll leave it as it is.  
> In which Peridot is full of pureblood supremacy bullshit, literally everyone is swearing and Pearl gets stuck in detention. Also, as of this chapter Amethyst's full name is Amethyst Montero, as she is of European Spanish descent in this AU.

If Pearl knew the evening was going to end in a mass detention, she would have just gone up to the common room early.

It was another typical lakeside evening when Pearl spotted the second year Slytherin girl bound over towards them a little frantically, book bag sailing out behind her and thumping against her side in a way which had to hurt if she was carrying any textbooks in it.

“GARNET!!” she bellowed at the top of her lungs, and stepped too soon, gulping before sliding out beneath her feet and tumbling the rest of the way down the bank.

“Amethyst, are you okay?” Rose gasped, hurrying over to help her up. She frowned as she caught sight of Amethyst's skinned knee. She picked her up and set her on her feet, before reaching into her robe to pull out a small pack of plasters. “Come here. Honestly, what were you thinking running down here, you know how crumbly the side of the path is.”

“I needed to-” Amethyst wheezed, trying to catch her breath, “-warn... Garnet... about Jasper...”

“Burakgazi?” hissed Garnet, eyes narrowing. “What's she planning?”

“Sabotage of your dorm. She doesn't know I heard, I came to drag you back so we can plan a counter-attack.”

“Wh-What would she do that for?” Pearl stammered, and three pairs of eyes swung towards her. Amethyst's mouth opened and she pointed.

“You're the girl from the bathroom!”

“No time for that,” Rose said hastily, “we have to get moving. Do you know when she was planning to attack?”

“No, I have no idea when, I just know she was talking about it with Peridot Palli. They're gonna try and go through with it too, they're targeting first year Griffindors to give them the password so they can set the ambush up. They stocked up on dungbombs too, I saw Jasper had like a whole suitcase full.”

“Fuck. Rose, we've got to go back,” Garnet said urgently, rising to her feet. “You know my mother will try to get the match cancelled if she finds out Jasper's been plotting this. If my moms end up fighting over this-”

“Good point. They really know how to make a scene over breakfast.” Rose grimaced. “Come on Pearl, Amethyst. Lets get going.”

“So are you really a first year?” asked Amethyst as they jogged a few paces behind Rose and Garnet. “You're kinda like, way taller than them. You're taller than me, even! Just a tiny bit though.”

“I'm a first year, yes, but I'm a few behind. I should be a third year,” Pearl confessed. “It's kind of a long story.”

“Hey, that's fine. Your biz, P. Can I call you that?” Amethyst continued without missing a beat. “I abbreviate everybody's names. Garnet is G, Vidalia is V. I mean, I don't abbreviate Rose, but R is such a weird sound, I don't like it, so I don't use it.”

“Okay...?”

“Great. P, then. So you don't know about Garnet and Jasper's rivalry, then.”

“Kind of? I know about the end of last year's match.”

Amethyst hooted with laughter.

“Yeah, what a shitstorm! You should have seen the tension between those two afterwards, about as sharp as Godric's sword! Honestly, it was wild. At one point, Garnet even-”

“Amethyst,” cut in Rose. As Garnet carried on, Rose slowed down slightly. “Maybe keep some of the details to yourself?”

“If you say so,” muttered Amethyst. As soon as they hit the building they saw a swarming group of students varying in house and year gathered at the staircase, blocking the way.

“God's sake, why do they want to go up there so bad?!”

“Didn't you hear? It's war! Burakgazi is plotting something to sabotage Aberra before the match!”

“Burakgazi!”

Garnet stormed over to an impossibly tall fourth year, a good foot taller than Garnet, skin patchy and mottled with vitiligo and hair fluffy and bleached a flat platinum colour, dark roots plainly showing. Her eyes ('yellow like a basilisks', Garnet had once called them in disgust) widened in anger as Garnet grabbed her shoulder roughly, spinning her around.

“What the fuck do _you_ want, Aberra?” spat Jasper Burakgazi, eyes narrowing as she towered over her. “And why the fuck have you called the fucking Griffindor pep squad to try and shut me down? I'm trying to move here.”

“In case you haven't noticed, only a handful of this crowd are actually Griffindors, so your point's invalid,” Garnet responded coolly. She appeared unaffected by Jasper's intimidation tactics, meeting her fierce gaze evenly. “And you have no business coming up here anyway. Classes are over for the day and your common room is down in the dungeon, so scuttle along.”

“Why is she so tall?” Pearl hissed to Amethyst, hiding behind Rose a little.

“Jasper Burakgazi's a half-giant,” Amethyst replied, folding her arms. “She's fucking huge, and she uses her size to her advantage. She's always hitting her head on smaller doorways, it's why her nose looks fucking broken all the time.”

“I ain't scuttling nowhere, Aberra,” Jasper growled, taking a step closer. “So if you want to fight me, go ahead. Your funeral, runt.”

“I'm a pacifist,” Garnet stated, though her hands flexed instinctively, curling into fists.

“Garnet, don't,” Rose started, reaching for Garnet's arm.

“Yeah, Garnet, don't,” mocked Jasper. “Listen to your girlfriend and back off, fuckin' dyke.”

The crowd fell silent, a few of Jasper's stooges wolf-whistling before erupting into peals of laughter. Rose was glancing around a little nervously at this point.

“They aren't-” Pearl started to argue, heart hammering in her chest, but Garnet spoke, shutting her up instantly.

“Big talk, Burakgazi,” Garnet countered, though her voice held a now icy edge to it that hadn't previously been there. In fact, Pearl had never heard it come into play before, and she hid behind Rose, knowing this wasn't going to end well. “They say people who talk shit have to use their mouths for something because they can't use them when it really counts, if you get my drift.”

This time it was Amethyst hooting with laughter behind her.

“They're fourteen,” muttered Pearl, ever the voice of reason, but it seemed to rile Jasper up enough.

“Wanna say that again, asswipe? Your slut girlfriend would know shit about using her mouth, maybe you should be asking her for pointers.”

“What the fuck do you know about Rose?!” exploded Garnet, icy cold demeanour switching out for red-hot fury in seconds flat.

“For heavens sake, Garnet, just drop it,” pleaded Rose, when another voice entered the fray.

“We don't have time for this, Jasper, lets just go,” piped up a short second year, coming up to Jasper's waist. She was hugging a bag of dungbombs to her chest protectively as a group of Hufflepuffs (Pearl noticed a blonde girl who she was fairly certain was Amethyst's friend Vidalia) crowded her, trying to swipe it. “We'll pick another time.”

“No, we're doing this now.” Jasper hadn't broken eye contact with Garnet.

“Ughhhhhh.” Peridot made her disapproval known with a roll of her eyes for good measure, and Amethyst jabbed Pearl in her side.

“Come on, lets help Vi grab the dungbombs from Peridot Palli. She's like, easy meat, for real, don't even worry about her. I reckon even you could take her.”

“A-Are you sure?” Pearl fretted, and Amethyst pushed her forward with such force she fell right onto Peridot, knocking the dungbombs from her hands and onto the floor. A putrid odour rose as several students stepped on them in their haste to get away, and Peridot growled and shoved Pearl off her forcefully.

“Ouch, Amethyst!” Pearl groaned, pushing herself up off of the floor. Her hands were grimy from dungbomb residue and she grimaced, trying to wipe them on Amethyst's robes.

“You clod, what the fuck?!” Peridot spluttered. She pushed Pearl back into Amethyst furiously. “You fuckin' first year chicken shit think you can go around shoving me over? Get out of my face!”

“Yo, step off!” Amethyst snapped. “Maybe if you weren't so squeaky and irritating I wouldn't have felt compelled to push my friend into you, get my meaning?”

“Maybe if your crew weren't so annoying I wouldn't have pushed your scrawny mudblood ass back, you know!!” Peridot fumed.

“Wh-what's a mudblood?” Pearl asked from the side of her mouth.

“Oh sure, preach your pureblood supremacy bullshit all you want, Palli, you piece of shit, we all know which of us clogs her bloodstream with marijuana on a day to day basis,” Amethyst roared, and Peridot's face split into a sinister grin as she realised she had hit a nerve.

“Oh, don't you know? How silly of me, not even a considerably _smart_ mudblood knows their place. Mudbloods are people born from _muggles_. Your blood is filth. You don't even belong here. Go back to your shithole muggle school already so we can have some fresh air in here for a change.”

People were beginning to stare, and Pearl could feel her cheeks reddening.

“No, racist pieces of shit like _you_ don't belong here,” snarled Amethyst. “So fuck off. What the fuck does a weed junkie know about fresh air anyway?”

“No, _you_ fuck off! Your stupid squad always think they can jack my shit up, messing with my stuff, and now you're sending a fucking mudblood after me?! Who the fuck do you think you are?!”

“Yo, Peri, chill out,” Jasper muttered, breaking away from her confrontation with Garnet for a moment to send her a warning look. “Look, lets just get out of here, we'll get them back another day.”

“No, I'm not done with this mudblood yet!”

“Stop saying that about me!” Pearl snapped, though her voice wavered.

“Yo, _I_ was the one making a shitstorm out of it, just leave her alone!” Amethyst protested, furious.

Peridot's cruel smile returned.

“You're _beneath_ me. You think you can mess with me and come off lightly just because you have some basic-ass magic now? You're just a mudblood through and thr-”

Pearl was sure that Peridot was about to continue on her spiel, except Amethyst's fist swung forward and collided with Peridot's face in a rather comical fashion. She fell to the ground with a cry and Jasper was on her in a heartbeat, kicking Amethyst hard enough in the stomach to send her to the floor retching.

“STOP!” screamed Pearl, huddled over Amethyst and crying out when Jasper swiftly kicked her in the side. “STOP IT, JUST STOP IT!”

“Hey, quit it, oh my god!” Pearl and Amethyst were shielded from another blow as Jasper's fist slammed down into a face shrouded by pink curls.

“ROSE!”

Now, most students were strictly loyal to their houses – while there were inter-house friends, and so on so forth, rarely would you see such a feat as approximately thirty students beat the ever living crap out of Jasper Burakgazi. And yet, here it was. Maybe because Rose was an extremely influential student at Hogwarts – one of the crown jewels on Godric Griffindor's sword, as Garnet had once teasingly compared her to. Either way, upon being punched in the face Rose had unwittingly set a small army of students on one of the toughest Quidditch players in the school. Pearl had never seen a school scrap on that kind of scale.

“ALL RIGHT, ENOUGH!! ENOUGH!!”

Several professors came between them, including Professor Mahaeswaran, one of the assistant flying professors who also managed the duelling club on Thursdays, and who prided himself in teaching magical forms of self-defence after telling many a wise story about how being a muggle security guard for a decade was one of the most enlightening, if short-lived, careers he had experienced.

Professor Mahaeswaran grabbed Jasper's arm and held it firmly behind her back. Jasper grunted in frustration at the notion of being caught, sending a glare to Peridot and Amethyst for causing the fight in the first place. With his other hand he pulled Rose to her feet, who was looking shaken but otherwise unharmed.

“Everyone aside from Burakgazi, Palli, Aberra and Quartz should leave. Now!”

The students scattered, and Vidalia pulled Amethyst up to her feet.

“Come on, let's get out of here,” she muttered. “You okay?”

“Fine,” grumbled Amethyst. She put a hand to her ribs, wincing as her fingers grazed the beginnings of a bruise.

“Hey, what about Montero?!” Peridot protested. “And that mudblood girl, with the red hair, _they_ started it!”

As Professor Mahaeswaran turned his head, Amethyst grabbed Pearl's hand.

“You never saw us!” she yelled, dragging Pearl away as Vidalia picked up speed and pulled the both of them along.

“Hey, get back here!”

“Vi, we need to hide somewhere!” hissed Amethyst, as the sound of another teacher's footsteps began to follow them. “We can do _your_ common room, right? Doug won't be looking for us for hours if he's lecturing them, you know he's all about safety-”

“Fine, but you owe me one. By the way, who's your friend?”

“You remember the girl from the bathroom?”

“Ohh, right, right...”

“Stop right there!”

Another professor was stood in front of the Hufflepuff common room entrance, arms flung out theatrically.

“Professor Miller,” Vidalia began.

“No arguments, I already heard what happened from Professor Mahaeswaran. Are you really going to protest your innocence?”

“Yes?” ventured Amethyst, grimacing. “Professor, it was Peridot Palli who-”

“Nope. Nope, not hearing it. Come on, you three rascals, detention in my office. You two have a test in my class coming up that you can be studying for. And you, little'un... well, I'm sure we can find some first-year level stuff for you to look over for an hour.”

Hanging her head in defeat, Pearl followed.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I want to bring in Greg soon, but I'm still working out where. Ideas?? He's like, 100% a Hufflepuff tho he works harder than anyone in the show and I love him, other than that you got free rein


	7. Magical Life Hacks

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> 7\. Magical Life Hacks. Whatever Peridot Palli had in store for her, Pearl decided it wasn't worth the effort of trying to one-up her, even if she had been itching to cast a dancing feet charm on her the entire time Peridot had been snarling at her. In fact, if she wasn't afraid of the spell backfiring and making Palli explode, Pearl probably would have put her theory into practice just to see the smirk wiped off of her face.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> nope its not a drill i really did update again  
> this chapter has been sitting unfinished since november until i finally said, enough. so here it is. pearl gets her first detention and finds a new passion for charms

Professor Miller's office looked incredibly similar to the owlery Pearl had visited once when she had accompanied Rose to deliver a letter home. It had various levitating chambers, books flying in and out of shelves as if organising themselves, and three tawny owls loose to soar through the air above their heads.

“Now, Cippolini and Montero, you two have a test to study for, do you have study cards?”

“Yes, ma'am,” Vidalia replied meekly. Amethyst snorted.

“Okay then, Montero needs to make some and you need to practice. You can wand cast if you want, but be careful because I'm marking and don't want to have to deal with any explosions.”

“That was one time,” muttered Vidalia, taking a seat near the back of the classroom. Amethyst sat down at the desk in front of her and pulled out a dying biro, scratching it on her desk face a few times before getting it to work.

Professor Miller was an oddly jolly woman now she was no longer ordering them about. She turned to Pearl with a twinkle in her eye, her mouth curled up into a friendly smile.

“And I don't believe I have you in any of my first year classes. What's your name?”

“Pearl Bisera,” Pearl said quietly, still wrapped up in the terrifying thought of what her parents would say if they found out she had gotten a detention less than a term in.

“Well, Bisera, I hope the next time we meet will be under better circumstances. Don't make a habit of getting detention on my watch, or I'll be sending an owl to your parents.”

“It's true,” chirped Amethyst with a grin. “She sent one to my dad once, he flipped.”

“I won't get detention again!” Pearl promised. She was already mortified that Peridot Palli had managed to get her into detention. She took a seat near Amethyst and Vidalia, hoping they wouldn't mind too much that she was grouping herself with them just this once.

“Sure you won't, scamp. Just don't make a habit out of it.” Professor Miller hummed thoughtfully. “Do you have any material you should be getting on with? Homework on you or anything?”

“Oh, yes...” Pearl fished around in her bag and found a parchment half-filled with a charms essay. To her dismay, the scuffle with Peridot Palli had seriously creased her paper. “C-Could I... borrow some parchment, please, Professor? I don't have a spare with me.”

Professor Miller shrugged and swayed over to her desk, rummaging through some seriously untidy drawers until she found what she was looking for. She slapped down three blank pieces of parchment.

“Let me read through what you've got first. Do you have your essay plan with you too?”

Pearl nodded and handed her essay over, before sorting her plan out from her bag. Professor Miller's mouth moved as she read, her eyes flickering back and forth across the page.

“You have some good content in here, Bisera,” she muttered. “But you might want to talk about _why_ Fitzpatrick invented this charm. Flitwick loves context, he awards the higher marks to students who research the purpose behind the charm's invention as well as methodology.”

“Oh! Thank you.”

“It isn't an in depth explanation in the first year charm book, but luckily for you I have a handbook that might come of use.”

She reached onto one of her bookshelves and selected a slim cream-coloured book.

“Here. _The Extended History Book of Charms._ A wonderful read if you are interested in charms.”

“I-I'll take a look at it,” promised Pearl. Obediently, she made notes until the detention was over and Professor Miller sent her, Amethyst and Vidalia packing off to their common rooms.

 

…

 

“This book is a godsend,” Pearl announced over breakfast the next day, abandoning her pumpkin juice in favour of reading up on cheering charms.

“ _The... Extended History Book of Charms_ is a _godsend_ to you?” Rose's nose wrinkled in confusion, as it often did, and if Pearl weren't so invested in her reading she might have glanced up to catch that adorable action and scorch it to memory. “Um... isn't charms super boring to you? It's the most basic magic.”

“It used to be!” Pearl agreed enthusiastically. “Having to levitate a feather every lesson was frustrating as hell! But this stuff is useful... like magical life hacks!”

Rose turned to mouth _life hacks?_ at Garnet, who shrugged and tore a bite of toast with her incisors and began to chew.

“I've been so wrong about charms. They're handy if you know how to incant them correctly,” Pearl declared. “I must have stayed up until past midnight reading up on the tips included in the footnotes. Charms are the perfect weapons!”

“More perfect than the spells we learn in defence against dark arts?” Rose pointed out. “They say defence is the best offence, you know.”

“These are for smaller confrontations,” insisted Pearl. “Like for the feud you have with Burakgazi. There's a spell here that can make people inflate. And if you didn't have the counter-charm perfected that would put her out of Quidditch games until she deflated in the hospital wing.”

Garnet turned to stare at her.

“That's quite the conniving little mind you have there, Pearl. You sure you're not supposed to be a Slytherin?” she joked.

“Ha ha, very funny. Speaking of Slytherins, how did the confrontation with Professor Mahaeswaran go? Did he punish you guys?”

Rose waved her hand in a so-so motion. “He lectured us on safety in the hallways, safety on the staircases, safety in numbers, safety in conflict... you know, safety.” She grinned. “We all got two weeks of detention, though. It's a miracle they're still letting Garnet and Jasper play.”

“And your mothers haven't heard about it yet?” Pearl asked worriedly. Garnet shrugged.

“Mom's furious at me for jeopardising my chances of playing, and Mother is pissed off that I have detention for two weeks. So they're working as a team, which is better than the original outcome I predicted.”

“Which was...?”

“They'd argue over whether or not to reschedule the game, and get into a duelling match over breakfast,” Garnet deadpanned. “It happened once before, and it would have been funny if they weren't both my parents.”

Rose peered over her shoulder. “Oh, crap,” she muttered. “Palli coming our way.”

Pearl glanced over her shoulder to see the second year rising to her feet from the Ravenclaw table. She stormed over to Pearl and thrust a finger at her face.

“I got two weeks of detention for being punched in the face by Montero and you got off on just one measly evening!” she snapped. “ _You_ were the one touching my things! And you're getting off lightly?!”

“Morning, Peridot,” greeted Garnet amusedly.

Pearl blinked. “I didn't touch your dungbombs on purpose, I was shoved into you,” she said, leaning away from Peridot's finger awkwardly. “And I didn't actually take part in the fight, which is why I got off on one detention, which I didn't actually deserve, by the way.”

“Amethyst got two weeks for punching you,” Rose volunteered. “So you know, all's well that ends well.”

“Did I ask you?” snapped Peridot, and Rose's eyebrows raised. She glanced over at Garnet, trying to stifle a laugh, and Garnet's glasses glinted.  
“You wanted answers. We gave them.”

“Look, just stay out of my way,” spat Peridot. “And _you,_ Bisera-” She turned back to Pearl, glaring at her behind thick frames. “Fucking mudblood. You think you're better than me or something? I'll show you.”

Pearl stared as she walked away, and felt colour rushing to her cheeks as a few students at surrounding tables stared.

“Ignore her, Pearl,” Rose said fiercely, reaching over to put a hand on her shoulder. “She talks smack to everyone who gets on her bad side. You aren't in any sort of danger.”

“Should I be scared?” Pearl asked, trying to ignore the looks she was attracting from other house tables. “She really doesn't seem to like me for some reason.”

“It's wizard racism,” Garnet said matter-of-factly, taking a sip of pumpkin juice. “There are all sorts of discrimination when it comes to magic folk. People talk shit about my moms all the time because they're part goblin. Blood supremacy is just one of the more widely used methods to talk other students down.”

“And here I thought Hogwarts was a perfect sanctuary,” Pearl muttered with a sigh, closing her charms textbook and reaching for the cereal.

Whatever Peridot Palli had in store for her, Pearl decided it wasn't worth the effort of trying to one-up her, even if she had been itching to cast a dancing feet charm on her the entire time Peridot had been snarling at her. In fact, if she wasn't afraid of the spell backfiring and making Palli explode, Pearl probably would have put her theory into practice just to see the smirk wiped off of her face.

“Oh, Pearl, Pearl,” Rose tutted, shaking her head. “Sanctuaries don't exist. Definitely not in a school full of witches and wizards being pitted against each other because of their bloodlines. What's perfect about that?”

Well, she had a point there.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> peridot voice: you will RUE the day you humiliated me, carly shay!!!  
> i don't know which will come first, the quidditch match or peridots revenge but i already have the latter sort of written out so we shall see  
> as always leave a comment if you liked/hated/etc because i missed writing this a lot!!


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